生完孩子两周后，老师突发心脏病. 然后是心脏骤停.

After having their first child, Naiya Atkins and Tristan Griffith were settling into a routine. 她是一名二年级教师，正在休假, 奈雅和小约瑟夫在家里, 他们给他起名叫乔乔. 特里斯坦工作到很晚，晚上照顾乔乔.

JoJo was 2 weeks old when Naiya stood up from snuggling him in bed and almost fainted. The 37-year-old figured she was dizzy because of her postpartum preeclampsia, a high blood pressure condition some women experience after they have a baby.

奈雅量了她的血压. 它很高，但不是很高. 她坐下来看看这种感觉会不会过去. 它没有. 奈雅觉得热，然后冷. She called out to her mother, Betty Atkins-Carter, who was helping care for JoJo.

然后奈雅昏倒了.

贝蒂打了911，然后是特里斯坦. He was on his way home to New Jersey from his job at a New York City nursing home. When Tristan heard the news, he rushed off the bus and ran the last five blocks home.

急救人员赶到时，奈雅已经清醒了. 他们把她带到她分娩的医院. 奈雅也出生在那里.

“你心脏病发作了，”一位急诊室医生告诉她.

It had been caused by what's known as a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD. 不像传统的心脏病发作, 哪里有血块阻止血液到达心脏肌肉, SCAD会因为分离而阻碍血液流动, 或撕裂, 在冠状动脉壁的衬里.

She underwent a procedure to repair the damage, then recovered in the ICU.

一个小时后，特里斯坦拉着妻子的手躺在床上.

“我要试着睡觉，”奈雅说.

她紧紧握住他的手，然后她的身体开始颤抖. 警报响起. 护士们跑进了房间. 特里斯坦退缩了. 贝蒂也在那里，她惊慌地喊道:“奈雅!"

奈雅的心脏停止了跳动. 是心脏骤停.

护士们开始心肺复苏术，然后用除颤器电击奈雅. 她的心脏又开始跳动了.

“发生了什么事?奈雅环顾房间说. “为什么每个人都在这里??"

Doctors placed a balloon pump in her chest and gave her intravenous medications to help her heart more efficiently pump blood. 她做了心脏康复以恢复体力.

她不得不服用的药物使她无法母乳喂养. 她想念和乔乔的亲密关系. 她甚至没看见他.

“我刚当上妈妈，”她不停地对医生说. Her plea worked, as Tristan and Betty were allowed to bring JoJo twice during Naiya's recovery.

两周后, Naiya went home wearing a defibrillator vest that would shock her heart if it stopped beating again. 医生考虑给他植入除颤器, 但她选择了反对，希望她的心能痊愈.

五个月后，她的心脏仍在努力泵血. 奈雅的胸部植入了除颤器. 一个月后, 就在新学年开始的时候, 她感觉好多了，决定回去工作.

她布置好了自己的教室，很兴奋地见到了她的新学生. 就在开学前，她定期做了血液检查. 在开学的第三天, she was sitting in her classroom waiting for her students to return from their daily elective when her doctor called.

“你的器官在衰竭，”他告诉她. “马上到医院来."

奈雅的心脏功能只有15%. 她需要做心脏移植手术.

After additional tests, Naiya went home with intravenous medication to keep her heart stable. 在11月, 她的医生给了她一个选择:她可以留在家里静脉注射, 不然就回医院来, 这可能会让她在移植名单上排名靠前.

Naiya spent Thanksgiving with her family, then returned to the hospital. She got weepy when she thought about missing JoJo's first Christmas. She thought of the big picture, that missing this one meant she would be with him for many more.

In Naiya's hospital room, Betty hung a garland she made with JoJo's picture. A friend and nurse at the hospital gifted Naiya a mini-Christmas tree and lights. On Christmas, she took a photo with a nurse who dressed up as the Grinch.

在12月的每隔几天，奈雅的医生就会来看她.

"Naiya, I'm going to find you a heart this week," he would say each time.

“好吧，”她会回答. “我会等着的."

新年开始不到一周，她的医生打来电话. “奈雅，我给你找到了一颗心.泪水顺着她的脸颊流下来. 第二天她接受了移植手术.

After three weeks of physical therapy and nearly a year after her heart attack, 在乔乔一岁生日的前一天，奈雅回到了乔乔身边.

她和特里斯坦唱了《沙巴足球体育平台》，还分享了一个小蛋糕. Since coming home, Naiya has happily spent her days bonding with her baby. 一天，她带他去商店一起做毛绒玩具.

She's had regular bloodwork to make sure her body doesn't reject her new heart. 虽然前五次测试看起来不错, the most recent one suggested her body could be starting to reject the heart. Her doctors at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center gave her more steroids to try to prevent that from happening.

“我还在旅途中，”奈亚说. “但是我心情很好. 我现在有了不同的心态. 我知道不是每件事都能按计划进行. But I am looking forward to getting back to work and the day-to-day."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.